Phasing Out the Livestream, Beginning a New Chapter
The Age of the Livestream
Over two years ago, we found ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic. At that moment, sheltered in our homes, we are so thankful that God provided our livestream (and our skilled parishioners who helped us set it up) to unite us in worship. I will never forget preaching in a living room in my socks, to a laptop stacked on top of boxes, stacked on top of a stool. I’ll also never forget seeing folks read scripture from their homes, or cramming our musicians in front of the Olsons' fireplace. What a source of joy and ministry the livestream has been over the past two years!
The New Chapter
Now, as we have been able to return to regular, in person worship, we are entering into a new chapter of our church's COVID story. Starting July 3, we will be phasing out the livestream and serving those confined to their homes in a more embodied and eucharistic way.
This is for several reasons. On the one hand, it will ease the strain on our Sunday morning volunteers as folks are out of town over the summer. But the main reason is that as Anglicans, we prioritize in-person ministry where we worship in word & sacrament. The physical, local nature of gathering for worship is not just a preference for us, but rather has been an essential part of Christian practice throughout history and is vital to how we understand the ministry of Jesus. The livestream was a temporal solution to a serious public health crisis, and again, we thank God for it! But for us it was never intended to be normalized, as it can never offer the fullness of sacramental worship. We also fear the ways that livestream culture, like social media, offers the illusion of community while only deepening our isolation.
Now is a great time for us to re-commit ourselves to gathering for public worship—in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day—as the foundational practice of the Christian life. As it says in Hebrews 10:25, "Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
What if I Can’t Make it to Worship?
We totally understand that there are times you can’t make it to church, whether you are ill or are out of town, and we are aware that COVID is here to stay. Here are some recommendations for what to do if you can’t make it to church:
We have been through so much together over the past two years, and God has been faithful. Here’s to the next phase of being a tenacious and creative congregation!
Scott+
Pentecost, 2022
P.S. My dream is to put together a blooper/highlight reel from all our content over the past two years. How amazing would that be? Pray, and watch, and wait...and maybe it will come.
Over two years ago, we found ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic. At that moment, sheltered in our homes, we are so thankful that God provided our livestream (and our skilled parishioners who helped us set it up) to unite us in worship. I will never forget preaching in a living room in my socks, to a laptop stacked on top of boxes, stacked on top of a stool. I’ll also never forget seeing folks read scripture from their homes, or cramming our musicians in front of the Olsons' fireplace. What a source of joy and ministry the livestream has been over the past two years!
The New Chapter
Now, as we have been able to return to regular, in person worship, we are entering into a new chapter of our church's COVID story. Starting July 3, we will be phasing out the livestream and serving those confined to their homes in a more embodied and eucharistic way.
This is for several reasons. On the one hand, it will ease the strain on our Sunday morning volunteers as folks are out of town over the summer. But the main reason is that as Anglicans, we prioritize in-person ministry where we worship in word & sacrament. The physical, local nature of gathering for worship is not just a preference for us, but rather has been an essential part of Christian practice throughout history and is vital to how we understand the ministry of Jesus. The livestream was a temporal solution to a serious public health crisis, and again, we thank God for it! But for us it was never intended to be normalized, as it can never offer the fullness of sacramental worship. We also fear the ways that livestream culture, like social media, offers the illusion of community while only deepening our isolation.
Now is a great time for us to re-commit ourselves to gathering for public worship—in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day—as the foundational practice of the Christian life. As it says in Hebrews 10:25, "Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
What if I Can’t Make it to Worship?
We totally understand that there are times you can’t make it to church, whether you are ill or are out of town, and we are aware that COVID is here to stay. Here are some recommendations for what to do if you can’t make it to church:
- If you are ill, please stay home. We want you to get well, and we want to love one another by keeping each other healthy and safe! In the place of the livestream we will be providing a simplified Morning Prayer liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer on our website that you can pray through individually or as a household. Even when praying Morning Prayer alone, you are joining in the worship of the entire church. Accompanying this, we will be ramping up our commitment to bring Eucharist to you after church, and to pray with you. This is what the church has done for millennia, and we love how it's more personal, pastoral, and eucharistic. All of these resources will be up on our Sundays web page come July, and the sermon podcast will continue as usual.
- If you are out town, we encourage you to go to a local church! We are not just in communion with our sister churches in our diocese, but we are bound to all faithful believers throughout the world. Thus, getting to worship with a local parish, wherever you are, is a great privilege and encouragement. Last year on our vacation in North Carolina, our family worshipped with two different churches and ended up having meals with families from both. It was a highlight of our trip. Here is where you can look up local ACNA churches if you are elsewhere in the country and specifically want to find an Anglican parish.
We have been through so much together over the past two years, and God has been faithful. Here’s to the next phase of being a tenacious and creative congregation!
Scott+
Pentecost, 2022
P.S. My dream is to put together a blooper/highlight reel from all our content over the past two years. How amazing would that be? Pray, and watch, and wait...and maybe it will come.
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